Process and apparatus for producing voluminous yarn



C. W. PALM June 28, 1960 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING VOLUMINOUS YARN Filed May 21, 1953 INVENTOR- CLIFFORD W. PALM Y t 22: TTORNEYS.

mted States 1 1 Filed May 21, 1953, Ser. ma as 'zrclaims. crew-34 p This invention relates to a loopy yarn and to a method and apparatus for the production of said yarn.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new loopy yarn composed of a bundle of continuous filaments, which yarn has.a novel appearance and has the hand or feel of a spun yarn made of staple fibers.

A further-object of this invention is the provision of a novel and economical process and apparatus for the production of voluminous yarn.

Other objects of this inventionwill be apparent from the following detailed description and claims.

According to the present invention, a continuous filament yarn, i.e.. a yarn made of a plurality of continuous filamentaisjsubjected to the action of a turbulent stream of a 'fluid to produce a continuous filament yarn having loops of individual filaments projecting fromthe main body of said yarn, s

.In a preferred embodiment of this invention, a con, tinuous filament yarn is delivered by a driven feed'roller, or other suitable means, to a jet where the yarn is subjected to the action of a'turbulent stream of a fluid, which is preferably a gas, such as air, substantially inert to. the material of. yarn; The jet, which hereinafter willbe called an fair jet, since air is the preferred and cheapest fluid, comprises a yarn inlet tube and an outlet fitting, both adjustably mounted o n a hollow T -shaped body, or T having an airinlet connected toaslource of compressed air. Theyarn enters the air jet through the relatively long and narrow inlet tube, passes to a, relatively wide chamber where it is subjected to the turbulentstream of air, and leaves the air jet, together with the air, through a relatively narrow orifice in, theoutlet fitting. For best results it is preferred to have the latter orifice slightly offset from, or out of alignment with, the bore of the inlet tube. It is also desirable .to adjust the yarn inlet tube and the outlet fitting so that theair leaves the air jet not only from-said fitting but also from the entrance to said inlet tube, with the air leaving-from said fitting having a substantially higher velocity than the air leaving from saident ran'ce tdthe inlet tube.

lheturbulent stream of gas acts on the continuous filament yarn passing through theair jet, causing the yarn l'avin'g'the air jet tone-voluminous andtocontain loops of individual filaments projecting from themain body of said yarn. The loops'may' be made more uniform in size 'and rthe frequency or the loops may be increased by impinging said" yarn, as it leaves the jet, against a solid surface,*pre'ferably against a flat smooth surface held at an angle of about 45 to the direction of flow of the yarn leaving the air jet. Although optimum results have been obtained when the angle is,45, other angles, for example,,angles of 15 to 75, have been employed with go o'd resultsf The distance between the air jet and the point where the yarn impinges on the solid: surface shouldipreferably be relatively short, e.g'. onthe order of {A inch'to 1' inch. i i

The formation bf loops" the yarn riaturally results atent 1 2 t in a decrease in the tenacity of said yarn, since individual filaments of the yarn are pulledout of their normal substantially parallel position. In order to increase the tenacityof the loopy yarn and in order to make sure that the loops will remain permanently in said yarn, the loopy yarn should be given twist, using for this purpose a ring spinner or other suitable device. The amount of twist which should beinserted into the yarn depends on several factors, such as the denier of the yarn, the tenacity desired and the yarn cross-section desired; For best results the twist should be at least about 3 turns per inch for a 300 denier yarn and at least about 1 turn per inch for an 1800 denier yarn. Very much higher twists may be employed if desired, and, if necessary, such twists may be set by a steaming operation in a manner well known in the art.

The loopy yarn may be fed from the air jet to the ring spinner, or other twisting device,in any suitable manner; In a preferred embodiment of the invention a plurality of driven secondary feed rolls are provided for this purpose. Since the yarn decreases in length due to the looping operation, these secondary rolls must be driven at a peripheral speed which is ,lower than the peripheral speed of the primary feed roll, i.e. the roll which supplies the yarn to mean jet. Preferably the relative speeds of the primary and secondary rolls are so regulated that there is substantially no slack and the yarnis under substantially no tension between the air jet and the secondary rolls.

While this invention has its greatest value when employed with yarns of cellulose acetate, it is also applicable to yarns made of other materials. "For example, the invention may be practiced with yarns composed of filaments of other materials, such as other organic derivative of cellulose materials, e.g. cellulose esters, such as (36111.1? lose propionate, cellulose "butyrate, cellulose acetatepropionate of cellulose acetate-butyrate, or cellulose ethers, such as ethyl cellulose or benzyl cellulose; polyesters suchas polyethylene terephthalate; polyamides such as nylon; regenerated 'celluloseyor other similar materials, All the filaments of the yarn may be made of a single material or, if desired, a; yarn composed of a'blend of filaments of difierent materials may bev employed. For practical purposes it is desirable to use a yarn which has adenier of about 150 to 4000. For best results, it is also desirable that the yarn being treated should be substantially dry, i.e. substantially free from surface moisture,

and that the filaments ofthe yarn should carry. a coating of a small amount, e.g. 1% to 4%,of any of theconventional anti-static textile lubri'cating agents commonly employed in the art. Theryarnb eing treated should be made up of at least filaments and should not have a twist above 1 turn per inch, for best results.

A, preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein 'Fig'. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus of this invention, a

Fig. 2 is a cross:sectional view of the jet, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarg d view of a portion of the loopy yarn produced in accordance with this invention. Referring now to the drawing, reference numeral 11 indicates a primary feed roll, which is mounted for rotation and is driven by any suitable means, such as a variable speed drive .(not shown). Therotation of the feed roll 11 serves to. draw a yarn 12 from a bobbin 13,

r through pigtail guides 14 and 16, in the direction shown by the arrows, and to deliver said yarn to an air jet17, which is supplied with compressed air through an air line 18. vThe air jet 17 comprises an inlet tube 19,:an outlet fitting Z1 and a tubular T 22, said T being provided with screw threads 23 (Fig. 2) for'connecting the air line 18 thereto. The inlet tube 19, which is adjustably end of saidjet, whereby'thre is prodfice'd" a continuous filament yarndiaving -lbops of-"iiidiv'idual filaments projectinggfrom the main body of said yarn, and. twisting said ldopy yam." i N 3. Process; for the production of voluminous .yarns which comprises passing a yarnrof continuous filaments into the yarn inle't 'end" of a jet,'p'assiiig"'a v.gas under pres-' sure into"'sa1d 'jet', subjecting said yarn to a turbulent stream of "said 'gas' in said je't, passiii said yafn" andi tlie main portion of said gas outof"th outlet of. said jet while passing aportiodof's'aidgas ouf'of the arn inlet end of said jet, whereby there is produced a continuous filament yarn having loops of individual filaments projecting from the main body of said yarn, impinging said yarn against a smooth solid surface whereby the frequency of said loops along the length of said yarn is increased and the size of said loops is made more uniform, and twisting said loopy yam.

4. Process of claim3 in which the gas is air and in which the smooth surface is at an angle of about 45 to the path of said yarn. V

5. A process for making bulky continuous filament yarn which comprises passing a bundleof filaments through a high velocity air jet under conditions such that the filaments are separated and whipped about sufficiently to form convolutions, removing the filaments abruptly from the air jet, bringing the filaments together to form a twisted yarn, and throughout the process avoiding tension which would straighten out the convolutions of the filaments, said bundle of filaments being fed along a path into contact with the turbulent air in said jet in a chamber and being withdrawn from said chamber together with said air along a second path parallel with but out of alignment with the first mentioned path.

6. Process as set forth in claim 5 in which the filaments leaving said chamber along said second path are impinged against a solid surface.

7. Process as set forth in claim 6 in which a portion of the air leaves said chamber along said first mentioned path at a velocity less than the air leaving along said second path, and said solid surface is arranged at an acute angle of 15 to 75 to said second path, the filaments being withdrawn from said surface in generally the same direction, projected on said surface, as the direction of impingement.

8. Apparatus for making bulky continuous filament yarn which comprises a fluid nozzle adapted to create a turbulent zone, means for feeding yarn continuously through the turbulent zone, means for supplying fluid to said nozzle under a pressure which will provide sufficient turbulence to separate the yarn filaments and form them into convolutions, and means for withdrawing the separated filaments from'the turbulent zone and reforming them into yarn, said nozzle comprising a filament inlet passage terminating in a chamber connected to said means for supplying fluid under pressure, and a filament outlet passage connected to said chamber an d out of alignment with said filament inlet passage, said filament outlet passage being parallel to said filament inlet passage.

9. Apparatus for'making bulky continuous filament yarn which comprises a fluid nozzle adapted to create a turbulent zone, means for feeding yarn continuously through the turbulent Zone, means for supplying fluid to said nozzle under a pressure which will provide sufficient turbulence to separate the yarn filaments and form them into convolutions, and means for withdrawing the separated filaments from the turbulent zone and reforming them into yarn, said nozzle comprising a filament inlet tube for receiving the yarn from said feeds ages ing means, said tube opening within a chamber connected toasaid meansrfor. supplying fliiid under pressure, said chamber being ofgreater. cross-section than-said tube, and a filament outlet passage connected. to, said chamber and Qutl'of alignment. with said filament inlet tube.

-10.App aratus for making bulky continuous filament yarnwhich comprises a fluid. nozzle adapted to'create. a turbulent zone, means for feedingyarn continuously through the turbulent zone, means for supplying fluid to said nozzle under a pressurewhich'will provide sufficient turbulence toseparatefthe yarn filaments and form them into convolutions, and means for withdrawing the separated filaments from the turbulent zone and reform ing them into. am, said nozzle'comprisi'ng a tubular yarn inletpass'agje' opening withinacha-mber of larger cross-section than said passage, an inlet connected to said chamber for receiving fluid under pressure, and a yarn outlet passage connected to said chamber and out of alignment with said yarn inlet passage.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 in which the filament inlet tube extends into said chamber in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of said chamber.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 in which said tube terminates within said chamber. a 5

13. Apparatus as set forth in claim 12 in which the interior of said chamber adjacent to the end of-said tube is tapered.

14. Apparatus as set forth in claim 11 and including an air inlet passage at substantially right angles to said longitudinal axis.

15. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 and including a solid surface against which the filaments and fluid leaving said outlet passage are impinged.

16. Apparatus as set forth in claim 15 in which said solid surface is spaced from said outlet passage a distance on the order of /4 inch to 1 inch.

17. A process for making bulky continuous filament yarn which comprises passing a bundle of filaments through a high velocity gas jet under conditions such that the filaments are separated and whipped about sufficiently to form convolutions, removing the filaments abruptly from the gas jet, taking up the filaments as a twisted yarn, and throughout the process avoiding ten sion which would straighten out the convolutions of the filaments, said bundle of filaments being fed into contact with said gas through an enclosed passage terminating within a confined zone, said confined zone being of larger cross section than said passage and being supplied with gas under pressure, and said filaments being withdrawn from said confined zone along a path out of alignment with said passage.

18. Process as set forth in claim 17 in which a minor portion of said gas is passed out of said chamber through said passage in a direction counter to the direction of said filaments.

19. Process as set forth in claim 18 in which said filaments are impinged against a solid surface after leaving said confined zone.

20. In an apparatus for the production of voluminous yarn comprising a nozzle for subjecting said yarn to the action of a turbulent stream of air to form a yarn having loops of individual filaments projecting from the main body of said yarn, means for supplying compressed air to said nozzle, means for feeding the yarn to the nozzle and means for withdrawing the yarn from said nozzle at a lower linear speed than the feed speed, said nozzle comprising an inlet tube for receiving the yarn 7 prises having said filament outlet passage out of alignment with said inlet tube.

21. In 'the' process for making bulky continuous fila ment yarn :which comprises subjecting a yard of continuous filaments to the action of a turbulent stream of air to produce a yarn having loops of individual filaments projecting from the main body of said yarn, in which process the yarn is fed into contact with said air through an enclosed passage within a confined ,zone; said confined zone being of larger cross sectionthan said passage and being supplied with air under pressure, and said filaments being withdrawn from said confined zone and then taken up as a twisted yarn having said projecting loops at a lower linear speed than the speed at which the yarn is fed to said confined zone, the improvement which comprises withdrawing said filaments from said confined zone along a path out of alignment with said passage, said filaments being accompanied, alongsaid path, by a stream of said air. 7 References'Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hofmann July 26, 2,224,923 Pool Dec. 17, 1940 2,379,824 Mummcry July 3, v1945 2,638,146 Rounseville et a1 May 12, 1953 2,783,609 Breen Mar. 5,1957 2,807,862 Griset Oct. 1, 1957 2,874,443 Griset Feb. 24, 1959 .Head May 5, 1959 

1. PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF VOLUMINOUS YARNS WHICH OCMPRISES PASSONG A YARN OF CONTINOUS FILAMENTS INTO THE YARN INLET END OF A JET, PASSING A GAS UNDER PRESSURE INTO SAID JET, SUBJECTING SAID YARN TO A TURBULENT STREAM OF SAID GAS IN SAID JET, PASSING SAID YARN ANT THE MAIN PORTION OF SAID GAS OUT OF THE OUTLET OF SAID JET WHILE PASSING A PORTION OF SAID GAS OUT OF THE YARN INLET END OF SAID JET, WHEREBY THERE IS PRODUCED A CONTINOUS FILAMENT YARN HAVING LOOPS OF INDIVIDUAL FILAMENTS PROJECTING FROM THE MAIN BODY OF SAID YARN. 